Narada Probe: TMC MP Saugata Roy Appears Before CBI

Kolkata: TMC MP Sougata Roy appears before CBI in connection with Narada sting operation case in Kolkata. Earlier, CBI sent a letter to Roy and asked him to appear for examination. He was summoned after he was seen – in the tapes – accepting money from Narada News CEO Mathew Samuel in exchange for favours.

CBI summoning senior party leaders for questioning in Narada case has left the state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee embarrassed – who is already facing serious law and order challenges in Bengal.

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The senior leader was elected to the 15 and 16 Lok Sabha from Dum Dum constituency. He had earlier been elected from Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency in 1977. During Charan Singh ministry he was the Union Minister of State for Petroleum. He was also the Union Minister of State for Urban Development during Manmohan Singh government from 2009 to 2012.

On January 11, 2017, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babul Supriyo filed a complaint against Roy along with AITC MP Tapas Paul and MLA Mahua Moitra for alleging that he is involved in the Rose Valley chit fund scam. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked Trinamool MLA and Deputy Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Iqbal Ahmed to appear before the court on Wednesday. Iqbal Ahmed is the younger brother of Sultan Ahmed. Both the CBI and the ED are probing the case separately.

Earlier, Sultan and Iqbal refused to give their voice samples and Voice Spectrographic Test (VST) to the CBI. Iqbal Ahmed, MLA from Khanakul in Hooghly district was seen in the video allegedly accepting bribe in the sting operation.

The sting operation case was conducted by Narada news in West Bengal to expose the alleged corrupt practices of ministers in the Mamata Banerjee’s government. The sting was conducted under the supervision of its (Narada news) founder Mathew Samuel for a period of two years. Ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections in West Bengal, Narada news released videos of sting operations, which sent ripples across the political fraternity across the country. Videos showed 13 TMC ministers and leaders accepting bribes in return of favours/misusing official positions.

Narada sting operation caused a major embarrassment for the state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee because it came at time when TMC is already under criticism from the opposition parties in Saradha chit-fund scam.

On March 17, 2017, Calcutta High Court ordered a preliminary probe to be conducted by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the sting operation case. The court also directed the CBI to register an FIR against those who were involved in the case, if required.

On April 17, CBI has filed charge sheet against 13 and others TMC leaders in the Narada sting case. All of them were booked under Section 120 B of IPC (criminal conspiracy), Section 13 (2), 13 (1D) and Section of 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act.